Ameriprise Financial Inc. Acquires 585,338 Shares of First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) by 372.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 742,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 585,338 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc.’s holdings in First Bancorp were worth $32,654,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in First Bancorp by 807.9% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,262 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 1,123 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of First Bancorp by 76.0% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,592 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $114,000 after purchasing an additional 1,119 shares in the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. grew its stake in shares of First Bancorp by 157.3% in the 4th quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 3,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $157,000 after buying an additional 2,171 shares during the period. Two Sigma Securities LLC bought a new stake in First Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at about $204,000. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new stake in First Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at about $236,000. 68.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Stephens raised their price objective on First Bancorp from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Janney Montgomery Scott downgraded shares of First Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of First Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of First Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $48.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of First Bancorp from $51.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, First Bancorp currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.33.

First Bancorp Price Performance

FBNC opened at $42.53 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $39.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.69. First Bancorp has a twelve month low of $29.53 and a twelve month high of $50.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The company has a market capitalization of $1.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.11 and a beta of 0.85.

First Bancorp (NASDAQ:FBNC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $105.79 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $105.81 million. First Bancorp had a net margin of 14.19% and a return on equity of 8.04%. Equities analysts expect that First Bancorp will post 3.27 EPS for the current year.

First Bancorp Company Profile

First Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for First Bank that provides banking products and services for individuals and small to medium-sized businesses. The company accepts deposit products, such as checking, savings, and money market accounts, as well as time deposits, including certificate of deposits and individual retirement accounts.